Emily At 22 Becomes A Homeowner. With A Pool.

Emily purchased a house! With a pool!

We flew to Arizona on a Thursday to help Emily move into her new house. On arriving in Phoenix we found a little smoothie place and enjoyed a nice mango smoothie.

Then we went to the Riparian Nature Preserve, a place we visited almost exactly 3 years ago when I was living in Gilbert and Mitzi came to visit me. We had taken pictures at this tree and were so pleased to do it again – 3 years older and married this time.

Then we drove out to Taylor and Baylie's house for a nice visit. They've recently redecorated and we enjoyed seeing how tasteful Baylie has made her home. We picked up some Thai food and shared a nice lunch. Their little dog Lewie looked so funny resting his jaw on the furniture we had to capture it.

In the evening we got together with Emily and ... for the first time in several months ... ate inside a restaurant! Olive Garden had just a few days prior started inside dining service and we were delighted. Eating in a restaurant is something we've sorely missed during this virus lockdown.

For desert we got this multi layered chocolate cake. I decided to take just one bite of dessert and we had a good laugh when I told Emily and Mitzi, "Tonight I'm going to be one-bite Billy". I LOVE ALLITERATIONS!

On Friday Emily was working so Mitzi and I did some shopping and house prepping. We got some pool cleaning supplies and a hose. The water level was a bit low so we filled it up. Mitzi scrubbed down the pool with the new brush. She's got some dance moves going!

That evening we all got together and had a nice dine-in meal at PF Chang's.

The next day, Saturday, was moving day. We picked up the U-Haul truck, drove over to Emily's apartment, and started loading. It took about 30 minutes max. Emily is a minimalist to some degree and doesn't have much stuff. Easiest moving job ever!

We drove over to her new house where Taylor and Baylie arrived and helped us unload. That took about 15 minutes :)

As Emily was putting up dishes in her cupboards she was so excited. I had to capture the moment.

After such long and hard work (JK!) we enjoyed a nice delivered meal from Pita Jungle.

Later in the day we enjoyed the pool for the first time. It was refreshing. The backyard is private. All the surrounding houses are one-story and don't look down into the yard, so we didn't see or hear any of the neighbors. It was a relaxing pleasant time. I even got a nice swim workout in!

After swimming I helped install a big mirror at the end of the hallway.

........and when we had it hung perfectly, we took a fun selfie to celebrate!

In the evening we found a fun dine-in café called American Way Market. It was a fun place and didn't feel like the virus situation was impacting it, so another refreshing experience.

Emily and I got a brisket french dip sandwich and specialty root beer, Mitzi enjoyed a Reuben. Their patio has these fun swing seats.

When we arrived for dinner the cookie display was completely empty. They told us they had sold out earlier in the day.

So the next morning on our way to Emily's, and right after they had opened, we went back and purchased a smathering of their best stuff. Saying Mitzi is happy isn't enough. Thrilled? Ecstatic? Joyful? Yes :)

Emily made Chicken Salsa Burritos, a fun Janis family favorite from the good ol' days, and they were delicious!

We enjoyed the day with Emily, Taylor, and Baylie relaxing around the pool. Lots of good conversation, family, food, and fun.  

We put the camera on a garbage can and managed to get a group shot in the backyard. It was such a fun time.

As the sun began to go down and the lighting got soft, Emily and I did a photo shoot. Here are some of our favorites.

Taylor and Baylie got this door mat for Emily. Home Sweet Home.

Proud new home owner at 22 years old!

Six months ago Emily purchased her first car. Now she has a house. It was just a few years ago she was struggling to get her life on track after losing her mom to cancer. I remember her telling me she didn't know if she could work all day in a full-time job. And now here she is 3 years later, a responsible money manager, dependable and reliable employee, a confident and strong woman, with her own car and house (with a pool, a dream fulfilled). And she made it all happen. I'm very very proud of her.

The following day we left Phoenix flying back to St. George. As we walked through the Phoenix airport I saw a site I haven't seen since I was a child.

PSA – the airline with the smile! As a child we flew from San Jose, CA to Los Angeles a few times to visit my grandparents. The airline? PSA. It was purchased shortly after and integrated into another airline. I haven't seen this livery for decades. It was so fun that American decided to paint this plane and they even included the smile on the front :) Definitely a blast from the past.

Ok, embarrassing story from the flight home. We didn't get assigned seats before the flight so Mitzi and I weren't seated next to each other. She was a few rows back behind me and had an empty seat next to her.

After the plane door was shut I got out of my seat, stepped back a few rows, saw her, and started to sit down next to her.

We were all wearing face masks. She looked at me with surprise. Her eyes got big. Then I saw a little fear. And then I realized this woman was not Mitzi!

I felt disoriented for a second. Am I on the right plane? What happened to Mitzi? I looked around in a panic. Then I recognized her a few more rows back. I apologized to the woman and sheepishly – but with relief – went and sat next to the woman I'm married to. Dang those masks are tricky!

Happily our flight attendant wasn't too strict about the face mask thing and during the flight had her mask pulled down a lot. So we followed her example and had a more pleasant flight home having our masks pulled down a lot too.

Our trip to Chandler to help Emily move was another successful trip. We love traveling together, visiting our children, and enjoying good food. I'm very grateful we get to do this in our lives right now. And grateful for this blog where we can record for each other the wonderful life we get to share.